Project Overview

The Victorian Government took a new approach to public feedback for the international design competition to redevelop Flinders Street Station. The People’s Choice Campaign had one goal. Give people a say and make it meaningful. August developed a web app voting platform within six weeks. Voters were given insights into the entrants’ designs and the tools to critique them. The campaign led to 18,974 votes in two weeks. Other key statistics: 288,053 unique site visits, 1.7 million page views & votes from over 161 countries. This project gave Melbournians a voice and placed the city on the world’s architectural stage.

Project Brief

In 2011, the Victorian Government launched an international design competition to rejuvenate and restore Melbourne’s iconic Flinders Street Station. Just as the original design for the station was chosen by competition back in 1910, this new design competition would give the station a much needed restoration and put Melbourne on the architectural world stage. As part of the competition, the Victorian Government wanted to give the public a voice through the People’s Choice Award and encourage them to have their say on which design they preferred. Elements of the People’s Choice winning design would then be transferred into the overall winner’s design.

August designed and built a custom voting platform for the campaign. A mobile-first responsive design was crucial to catering for multiple devices and capturing the primary audience: people on their phone, travelling through Flinders Street Station. Significant research was applied to the site’s usability, interactivity and voting process across all devices (desktop, tablet and mobile). Design and user-experience considerations were tailored to each device type. This ensured the user was able to interact with the site’s content and proceed with the voting process as efficiently as possible, whether they were voting from their phone, on their way home or back at their office/home on their PC.

Project Need

The People’s Choice award component of the Flinders Street Station Design Competition was an entirely new campaign. The Victorian Government wanted to engage the public and stakeholders and to provide feedback on the redesign of Melbourne’s iconic landmark.

The custom built voting platform was like no other. August gained an incredible amount of insight into the history of Flinders Street Station. Major Projects Victoria provided August with a strong set of brand guidelines, myriad archival imagery and a personal tour through the private access areas of the Station for inspiration. This understanding formed the foundation for the site’s colour, typography and imagery.

There was a large focus on providing the user with visual feedback during the voting process and creating a user interface which upheld the Flinders Street Station brand and heritage.

User Experience

Regardless of device, users were taken on a design journey for the Flinders Street Station Design Competition People’s Choice award. They were shown a clean and elegant showcase of the six finalist submissions. The voting processes guided users every step of the way through a secure online platform. Users were provided with confirmation of votes and notification emails, including social sharing capabilities.

During testing, August ensured that as many variables as possible were accounted for. The website was tested in train stations to ensure people could vote on their mobile or tablet while waiting for or aboard a train. The site was extensively browser tested on all devices to ensure that the user was able to interact with the site’s content and proceed with the voting process as efficiently as possible.

The user engagement is evident in the results. In the two-week timeframe, the campaign generated 18,974 completed online votes. Users accessed the site from more than 161 countries worldwide. The average length of time spent on the site was 8.08 minutes demonstrating a very engaged audience.

Project Marketing

Major Projects Victoria had set a target of 1000 completed online votes as their measure of success. Marketing focussed on mainstream media, news bulletins and social media. The project exceeded the client’s target by achieving 18,974 completed online votes.

The campaign garnered local and international media recognition both in print and online. The campaign was featured in major news bulletins throughout the world. On the day of the launch the hashtag #voteflindersst was trending above #RoyalBaby.

In the first 24 hours of launching, the site accounted for one third of all Victorian Government online traffic, receiving more traffic during this time than the most popular DSDBI website would receive in a single month.

Project Privacy

Major Projects Victoria and August take privacy seriously. This project complies with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the recently updated Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). This web app does not collect private information from users and does not require users to submit any private information during the course of the voting process.